The Postbank, along with the South African Social Security Agency, has stated that it has taken measures to resolve the payment glitches that left beneficiaries unable to receive their grants.
THE POSTBANK, along with the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), has stated that it has taken measures to resolve the payment glitches that left beneficiaries unable to receive their grants.
Sassa is responsible for handling over 10 million social grants across the country. However, the entity has struggled to deliver grants on time due to apparent banking system glitches since Friday.
This also comes after Telkom threatened to cut off its IT systems last week due to Sassa’s outstanding debt of R225 million. Telkom stated that the entity also had a R960m IT contract that still needed to be paid.
A number of frustrated beneficiaries took to social media to express their distress.
Mckobe Mologadi Kanyane said: “On Monday I got a text informing me about the money in the account. I went to the post office but when I arrived, there was no money in my account … I went inside the bank to check and I was told that the money was withdrawn on Friday at the mall close to me. I got very confused because on that Friday I had gone to check and only found a balance of R17… I heard another lady complaining that R1,600 was just withdrawn out of her card … I just think the Sassa people used this network problem as an opportunity to steal our money.”
Seodisa R Dimakatso said: “I went to check on Monday and I found out that my balance was R23 … No one had informed us that we would not be getting money this month … I’m not sure if we got scammed or something.”
The DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard and Bridget Masango said the issue had been going on for months.
Meanwhile, Sassa and Postbank on Monday stated that 96% of account beneficiaries were already paid.
Postbank CEO Lucas Mdala said they had managed to resolve the issue in ATMs and retailers. However, they were still experiencing challenges in some of the post offices. Sassa executive manager for grants, Brenton van Vrede, said they would restore payment services as soon as possible.
